Sportsnet 590 The FAN: Elliotte Freidman on the Jeff Marek Show on the Columbus Blue Jackets and if there are going to be some changes after Don Waddell was hired to run the team and how different he thinks things could be.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Marek: “How different do you see Columbus next season? We know the front office is going to be different. How about on the ice?”
Friedman: “I think it’s gonna be different because, a little bit different because I think they’re gonna go after some centers. I mean, they been looking at their centers for a while. So I still think that’s going to happen.
But, you know, Jeff, I don’t think the overall philosophy is going to change. They have a lot of good young players, and they’re gonna build around those good young players.
I think one, I mean if there is any one of the young players I’m curious about, move wise is guy like Kent Johnson. Simply because, like there was, I think there were some teams that made pitches last year, but I think overall, I think that you know, he’s a good young player.
And you know, we talk about a guy like (Alexis) Lafreniere, sometimes it’s a wobbly the first couple of years, but then you figure it out. And I would hate to give up on a talent like Kent Johnson before I had too.
But, so I don’t think that’s gonna change a lot. Like to me, the biggest decisions are probably Pascal Vincent, who’s caught up in a, for the, like I feel really, I feel kind of badly for Vincent.”
Marek: “So do I.”
Friedman: “Kind of caught up in some situations here that are not his fault, and not his own design. And he just could potentially caught up in another one here.
But you know, the big one to me is probably Patrik Laine. Laine finished last season, you know, he was, he needed some mental health work and that was very important. And, you know, you hope he’s in a really good place. But, some, one of the things I always think about after players need that kind of a break is, you know, do you feel that you’re in the right situation, or do you have to look for a different situation?
I don’t know the answer. I’m not reporting anything here. But I definitely think there would have to be a conversation with Laine about you know, how are you doing? That’s the most important thing. And where do we go from here?”